Recently I have been feeling overwhelmed and consequently, have not been doing as much as I need to. Oh, I take care of the garden and begrudgingly mow the lawn, but the indoor chores tend to slide more often. Even with food coming in every week with my CSA box in addition to my supplies from the monthly grocery shopping trip, I have not been cooking or creating meals from scratch. My lunches are sandwiches or a frozen entree, my dinners are as simple as possible (and tend to dip into the chips and dip area more often than not). What are the consequences of this neglect of my more frugal moves?
Increased cost
Prepackaged foods whether a frozen lunch entree or deli sliced meat will add cost to each meal. While these options are less expensive than a lunch purchased at work, the cost is lower taking leftovers to to work for lunch than preparing a lunch every morning (and usually a bit quicker).
Wasted food
I am especially guilty of this regarding my CSA box. Much of the reason all of it does not end up in the compost bin is because I give it away. Many of the greens do not get me excited, radishes are not my thing and I am not enthusiastic about eating lettuce and spinach. Since I am not cooking as much, I tend not to experiment with some of the items I receive and they are relocated to make compost rather than feed me. This is not the best use of my locally grown produce.
In addition, I have also thawed meat that sat too long in the refrigerator before I remembered I was intending on making meatballs or some other dish. This is expensive and wasteful.
Poorer health
Despite my vow to eat healthier and exercise more, I have reverted to old habits rather than adopting new ones. Many prepackaged foods have more fat and sodium than recommended, and may lack many nutrients needed by the body. Decreasing my bottom line and adding to my rear does not help me get closer to my goals.
So, what can I do to rectify this? First, I need to organize my kitchen (messiness is always a barrier to cooking) and choose a recipe to make. With my time and energy constraints, finding something to cook can be a challenge, but trying something new is fun as well. I plan to look up recipes the night before and get out items to thaw if needed. With an organized kitchen and recipe in hand, I will cook the meal (hoping there are leftovers for one more meal, lunch or dinner the next day).
If there is a weekend looming, cooking can be made an even higher priority. I usually have more time available so cooking long-simmering sauces or dealing with multiple preparation steps are less onerous. Making a list is important so I will have to decide what to make and post the resulting list in a prominent location.
The hardest part: not stopping by the store for the craved chips or sweets. By making a vow to only eat something I have made and supplying myself with a variety of items to eat, I lessen temptation and improve both my diet and my financial bottom line. Making time for cooking will only help me keep within my spending plan rather than exceeding it.
Do you have similar food challenges?
Showing posts with label eating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eating. Show all posts
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
I received my first CSA box
Spring is here with summer just around the corner. You know what that means--since I signed up for a CSA share, I received my first harvest of the season. I ended up with some red kale, two bags of spring green mixes for salad and stir frying and a bag of mixed herbs. What do I know about chives, anise hyssop or Mesclun salad mixes? Absolutely nothing.
I was raised on iceberg lettuce salads and dried herbs in a glass (now plastic) jar. It has only been recently I have branched out to romaine lettuce, but still like the crunch of iceberg in the mix. Frankly, this variety of salad greens and fresh herbs has me a bit intimidated. So how am I handling my first box of greens?
Red Russian kale is a bit beyond me at the moment--the scent reminds me of broccoli (not unexpected as they are relatives)--and I am not a fan of broccoli except cooked and smothered in cheese. One of my colleagues has two bunnies and they need more greens so the bunch of kale went home with her. One set of greens to be consumed by rabbits--check!
I have no idea how Mesclun versus stir fry salad mixes differ so I chose a bag and unloaded some for a quick salad. While there was quite a variety of greens in the bag (and one with an interesting flavor I had no clue about but liked), the mix had entirely too many stems for me to like eating them. Poor critique I know, but I am a farm girl. Many of the things I was trying to eat looked like weeds not food. Fresh salad plans abandoned, I washed off the dressing and put the remainder in the refrigerator.
My first success was reading various recipes for cooking greens and finding a couple ideas I liked. Therefore, I heated up some olive oil in a pan, chopped some white onions and cooked them in the olive oil, put in freshly washed (and stems removed) greens, sprinkled garlic powder on top and cooked for a minute or two. Served with a slice of warm, buttered bread and it worked well together. I knew greens cooked down easily, but was still surprised at the low volume of food I had at the end. This may be my recipe of choice to deal with all the salad greens. Of course, to consume the volume I have, I will need to have greens at least once a day. This may be a challenge, but as long as I can find new recipes to try, I will keep at it.
As for the chives and oregano, they may end up on some pizza. I still need to identify who is who (is it anise hyssop or oregano) and then plan accordingly. In the end, the herbs may prove more of a challenge than the salad mixes, but I can report back in a week. Lest my tale scare you, the CSA farm had some serving suggestions for oregano (pasta tossed with olive oil and fresh oregano), anise hyssop (use leaves for tea) and chives (add to cream cheese as a dip).
Still, I am not sure I will be looking forward to curly garden cress or radishes, but I may find new recipes to explore as I try various seasonal produce. If only the farm offered some asparagus...
I was raised on iceberg lettuce salads and dried herbs in a glass (now plastic) jar. It has only been recently I have branched out to romaine lettuce, but still like the crunch of iceberg in the mix. Frankly, this variety of salad greens and fresh herbs has me a bit intimidated. So how am I handling my first box of greens?
Red Russian kale is a bit beyond me at the moment--the scent reminds me of broccoli (not unexpected as they are relatives)--and I am not a fan of broccoli except cooked and smothered in cheese. One of my colleagues has two bunnies and they need more greens so the bunch of kale went home with her. One set of greens to be consumed by rabbits--check!
I have no idea how Mesclun versus stir fry salad mixes differ so I chose a bag and unloaded some for a quick salad. While there was quite a variety of greens in the bag (and one with an interesting flavor I had no clue about but liked), the mix had entirely too many stems for me to like eating them. Poor critique I know, but I am a farm girl. Many of the things I was trying to eat looked like weeds not food. Fresh salad plans abandoned, I washed off the dressing and put the remainder in the refrigerator.
My first success was reading various recipes for cooking greens and finding a couple ideas I liked. Therefore, I heated up some olive oil in a pan, chopped some white onions and cooked them in the olive oil, put in freshly washed (and stems removed) greens, sprinkled garlic powder on top and cooked for a minute or two. Served with a slice of warm, buttered bread and it worked well together. I knew greens cooked down easily, but was still surprised at the low volume of food I had at the end. This may be my recipe of choice to deal with all the salad greens. Of course, to consume the volume I have, I will need to have greens at least once a day. This may be a challenge, but as long as I can find new recipes to try, I will keep at it.
As for the chives and oregano, they may end up on some pizza. I still need to identify who is who (is it anise hyssop or oregano) and then plan accordingly. In the end, the herbs may prove more of a challenge than the salad mixes, but I can report back in a week. Lest my tale scare you, the CSA farm had some serving suggestions for oregano (pasta tossed with olive oil and fresh oregano), anise hyssop (use leaves for tea) and chives (add to cream cheese as a dip).
Still, I am not sure I will be looking forward to curly garden cress or radishes, but I may find new recipes to explore as I try various seasonal produce. If only the farm offered some asparagus...
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Planning for my garden and outdoor space
With the snow receding from my lawn, my thoughts have turned to gardening. My raised bed is now free of snow and the smaller bed has crocuses appearing. I am excited that green is appearing but that means if I want to grow something, I have to start planning now.
My first attempt at growing a garden ended in disappointment. My corn and pumpkins were stunted, my rhubarb and garlic did not grow at all, and my onions were small. However, my volunteer tomatoes did fairly well. I did a soil test in autumn and found I was low on nitrogen, a definite drawback to growing anything. I added composted manure and granulated nitrogen supplement to 1/4 of my 9' x 9' garden bed and planted onion seed in September.
Although the Canada Red rhubarb I purchased did not sprout, my mom was separating out the rhubarb in her over 30-year-old bed last year and I took a chunk. I am looking forward to seeing the rhubarb come up this year. It has a good history so I have hope I will see it this year.
Since I have purchased a share in a CSA, I have been considering what to plant. I choose the vegetables based on what I like to eat. Since I have a free packet of tomato seeds from last year's seed purchase and I liked picking my own tomatoes, I started four seeds today for transfer to the garden bed when warmer.
I have recently discovered I like cucumbers so I am looking at a small bush cucumber to plant as well. This would involve me purchasing more seeds, but that is fine. Even though I was not enthusiastic about the earwigs that nested in the romaine and iceberg lettuce I planted last year, I may try again this year with some treatments that may help.
However, I really like strawberries, but my raised garden bed needs to be all strawberry plants or I need more space to put it. I like looking over the Jung's catalog and found they have a pyramid raised bed that they say is perfect for planting 50 strawberry plants. This purchase would get me space for strawberries and a second gardening bed if the strawberries are not successful. I am still debating this expense and I would be depending on my dad to bring me the one cubic yard of soil needed, but this may be possible for this year.
Other outdoor activities include planting two more trees for the house, aerating the lawn and planning my first rain garden. I have the trees picked out but need a permit from the city for one since I would like to install it in my park row (the lawn space between the sidewalk and the street). I plan on outsourcing the lawn aeration (and possibly overseeding the lawn as well), but the rain garden I am still considering what plants and seeds to purchase. Since I will start out with the smaller section of the lawn and the space in front of my house, I have nearly 200 square feet to consider. This will be a challenge of arrangement, serial blooming and appropriate height.
Spring is definitely around the corner and planning for growing things is always exciting and keeps me busy. What are your gardening plans?
My first attempt at growing a garden ended in disappointment. My corn and pumpkins were stunted, my rhubarb and garlic did not grow at all, and my onions were small. However, my volunteer tomatoes did fairly well. I did a soil test in autumn and found I was low on nitrogen, a definite drawback to growing anything. I added composted manure and granulated nitrogen supplement to 1/4 of my 9' x 9' garden bed and planted onion seed in September.
Although the Canada Red rhubarb I purchased did not sprout, my mom was separating out the rhubarb in her over 30-year-old bed last year and I took a chunk. I am looking forward to seeing the rhubarb come up this year. It has a good history so I have hope I will see it this year.
Since I have purchased a share in a CSA, I have been considering what to plant. I choose the vegetables based on what I like to eat. Since I have a free packet of tomato seeds from last year's seed purchase and I liked picking my own tomatoes, I started four seeds today for transfer to the garden bed when warmer.
I have recently discovered I like cucumbers so I am looking at a small bush cucumber to plant as well. This would involve me purchasing more seeds, but that is fine. Even though I was not enthusiastic about the earwigs that nested in the romaine and iceberg lettuce I planted last year, I may try again this year with some treatments that may help.
However, I really like strawberries, but my raised garden bed needs to be all strawberry plants or I need more space to put it. I like looking over the Jung's catalog and found they have a pyramid raised bed that they say is perfect for planting 50 strawberry plants. This purchase would get me space for strawberries and a second gardening bed if the strawberries are not successful. I am still debating this expense and I would be depending on my dad to bring me the one cubic yard of soil needed, but this may be possible for this year.
Other outdoor activities include planting two more trees for the house, aerating the lawn and planning my first rain garden. I have the trees picked out but need a permit from the city for one since I would like to install it in my park row (the lawn space between the sidewalk and the street). I plan on outsourcing the lawn aeration (and possibly overseeding the lawn as well), but the rain garden I am still considering what plants and seeds to purchase. Since I will start out with the smaller section of the lawn and the space in front of my house, I have nearly 200 square feet to consider. This will be a challenge of arrangement, serial blooming and appropriate height.
Spring is definitely around the corner and planning for growing things is always exciting and keeps me busy. What are your gardening plans?
Saturday, March 8, 2008
I became a CSA member
In an effort to eat healthier, I decided to buy a share in a local CSA, Community-Supported Agriculture. This is the first time I acted on the thought to join a CSA and my recent health scare was the impetuous to truly think about what I am eating and how it affects me. Still, there are many reasons why I decided buying a part share in a CSA:
I only have a small garden plot.
My house came with a single 9' x 9' raised garden bed for growing fruits and vegetables. As I realized too late to correct, the soil was in poor condition and was not suitable for growing much of anything. I plan to correct that this year, but it does not leave me much space for growing my own veggies. I have to plan carefully and consider what I want to eat before planting. If I want more produce, I will need to buy it.
I am buying locally grown produce
The farm I chose is within 25 minutes of my home and delivers to the farmer's market close to where I work. I know my own limitations and making it easy for me to pick up my vegetables is a good thing. With my participation, I am helping an organic farmer stay in business, he gives me produce weekly and I eat better and lessen my harm to the environment when trucking the veggies for my table because he is local.
I will improve my diet and my heath by consuming organic produce.
By paying for the privilege of having fresh produce delivered to me at work and then bringing it home weekly, I will have to eat the food. I cannot let money go to waste and it will introduce me to new veggies that I had not considered before. Otherwise, I am going to have really expensive compost!
My insurance company gives me a rebate for healthier eating.
To lessen the cost of investment in a CSA, my insurance company will pay half the cost of a share up to $100. That is, if I pay $350 for my share, I will get a $100 rebate. This lowers the price of my veggie investment as I figure out if I can handle having a weekly delivery of produce. I may find that this is all too much, but I may also thrive and enjoy it.
When I chose the CSA farm I did, I shopped around to find the lowest cost share that had a delivery close to work or home. The latter part would be my greatest obstacle even if I did not want to pay a lot of money upfront. This is an investment in my health and after dealing with the effects of mismanagement of my eating habits, this is well worth money spent if I can eat better and live healthier.
I only have a small garden plot.
My house came with a single 9' x 9' raised garden bed for growing fruits and vegetables. As I realized too late to correct, the soil was in poor condition and was not suitable for growing much of anything. I plan to correct that this year, but it does not leave me much space for growing my own veggies. I have to plan carefully and consider what I want to eat before planting. If I want more produce, I will need to buy it.
I am buying locally grown produce
The farm I chose is within 25 minutes of my home and delivers to the farmer's market close to where I work. I know my own limitations and making it easy for me to pick up my vegetables is a good thing. With my participation, I am helping an organic farmer stay in business, he gives me produce weekly and I eat better and lessen my harm to the environment when trucking the veggies for my table because he is local.
I will improve my diet and my heath by consuming organic produce.
By paying for the privilege of having fresh produce delivered to me at work and then bringing it home weekly, I will have to eat the food. I cannot let money go to waste and it will introduce me to new veggies that I had not considered before. Otherwise, I am going to have really expensive compost!
My insurance company gives me a rebate for healthier eating.
To lessen the cost of investment in a CSA, my insurance company will pay half the cost of a share up to $100. That is, if I pay $350 for my share, I will get a $100 rebate. This lowers the price of my veggie investment as I figure out if I can handle having a weekly delivery of produce. I may find that this is all too much, but I may also thrive and enjoy it.
When I chose the CSA farm I did, I shopped around to find the lowest cost share that had a delivery close to work or home. The latter part would be my greatest obstacle even if I did not want to pay a lot of money upfront. This is an investment in my health and after dealing with the effects of mismanagement of my eating habits, this is well worth money spent if I can eat better and live healthier.
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